Computer networks comprise a plurality of interconnected networking devices, such as routers, switches and/or computers. The physical connection that allows one networking device to communicate with another networking device is referred to as a link. Links may utilize wired or wireless communication technologies. Data may be communicated between networking devices via the link in groups of binary bits referred to as packets. The rate at which networking devices may communicate data via a link is referred to as link speed.
Demands for increasing link speeds and computing speeds have driven a variety of specialized computer networking architectures. There are networking architectures, such as Ethernet, which are widely utilized for communications based on the Internet Protocol (IP). There are other networking architectures, such as Fibre Channel, which are widely utilized in storage area network (SAN) architectures. Still other networking architectures are utilized in cluster computing architectures. Networking devices, which communicate via one or more of the diverse computer networking architectures may comprise distinct input and output (I/O) interfaces for communicating with each of the one or more diverse computer networking architectures.
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is a technology that comprises a number of proposals, which may define a single networking technology that may be utilized IP communications, SAN and cluster computing, for example. In one aspect, FCoE may define a method of data encapsulation, in which Fibre Channel (FC) frames may be encapsulated within an Ethernet frame.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.